In order to achieve adaptive and efficient service composition, a task-oriented algorithm for discovering services is proposed. The traditional process of service composition is divided into semantic discovery and fun...In order to achieve adaptive and efficient service composition, a task-oriented algorithm for discovering services is proposed. The traditional process of service composition is divided into semantic discovery and functional matching and makes tasks be operation objects. Semantic similarity is used to discover services matching a specific task and then generate a corresponding task-oriented web service composition （TWC） graph. Moreover, an algorithm for the new service is designed to update the TWC. The approach is applied to the composition model, in which the TWC is searched to obtain an optimal path and the final service composition is output. Also, the model can implement realtime updating with changing environments. Experimental results demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the algorithm and indicate that the maximum searching radius can be set to 2 to achieve an equilibrium point of quality and quantity.展开更多
This study investigates how orthographic,semantic and contextual variables—including word length,concreteness,and contextual support—impact on the processing and learning of new words in a second language(L2)when fi...This study investigates how orthographic,semantic and contextual variables—including word length,concreteness,and contextual support—impact on the processing and learning of new words in a second language(L2)when first encountered during reading.Students learning English as a foreign language(EFL)were recruited to read sentences for comprehension,embedded with unfamiliar L2 words that occurred once.Immediately after this,they received a form recognition test,a meaning recall test,and a meaning recognition test.Eye-movement data showed significant effects of word length on both early and late processing of novel words,along with effects of concreteness only on late-processing eye-tracking measures.Informative contexts were read slower than neutral contexts,yet contextual support did not show any direct influence on the processing of novel words.Interestingly,initial learning of abstract words was better than concrete words in terms of form and meaning recognition.Attentional processing of novel L2 words,operationalized by total reading time,positively predicted L2 learners’recognition of new orthographic forms.Taken together,these results suggest:1)orthographic,semantic and contextual factors play distinct roles for initial processing and learning of novel words;2)online processing of novel words contributes to L2 learners’initial knowledge of unfamiliar lexical items acquired from reading.展开更多
This exploratory study examines whether genre has an impact on syntactic complexity and holistic rating in EFL writing. Over 300 sample texts produced by intermediate learners were collected from a test and some regul...This exploratory study examines whether genre has an impact on syntactic complexity and holistic rating in EFL writing. Over 300 sample texts produced by intermediate learners were collected from a test and some regular after-class assignments for English writing courses. Each participant completed two writing tasks, one argumentative and the other narrative. Results show that genre type has a significant impact on L2 syntactic complexity. Genre effect is found stronger with timed writing tasks. L2 holistic ratings show correlation with syntactic complexity on the different measure(s) depending on genre type and planning conditions. Regression analyses reveal that for timed writing tasks, clausal density(clauses per sentence) is a reliable predictor for holistic assessment on intermediate EFL learners’ writing quality. It is found to account for 6% of the score variance for timed writing and 10% for timed argumentative writing. Genre is evidenced to be related to EFL writing holistic ratings. Closer examination indicates that while syntactic complexity is predictive of holistic writing scores for argumentative writing, it does not correlate with holistic scores for narrative writing. Other linguistic features rather than syntactic complexity may be accountable. Overall, the study lends support to genre effect in the relationship between syntactic complexity and L2 writing quality holistic rating.展开更多
The creative use of English idioms has led to heterogeneous idiom variants that are particularly problematic for L2 learners. Drawing on a cognitive linguistic perspective of idiom learning, this paper categorizes Eng...The creative use of English idioms has led to heterogeneous idiom variants that are particularly problematic for L2 learners. Drawing on a cognitive linguistic perspective of idiom learning, this paper categorizes English idiom variants into four major types, and reports on an empirical study that investigated the effects of variation type and proficiency level on Chinese EFL learners＇ comprehension of English idiom variants. Targeting non-English major college students of basic and intermediate English levels, the study confirmed the influence of proficiency level on learners＇ comprehension and evaluation of the difficulty of idiom variants. Structural change in idioms was found to be the easiest type and idioms modified in terms of literal imagery were the most difficult in comprehension. These findings suggest that the dominant ＂rote memorization＂ tends to limit learners＇ choices of comprehension strategies to literal translation and L1 transfer. The learning environment unsupportive of cultivating L2 learners＇ analytical ability is held accountable for the generally low success rates in comprehension of idiom variants.展开更多
This paper investigates the impacts of intercultural experience through English as a lingua franca （ELF） on language attitudes, with the focus on Chinese speakers＇ narratives of ELF experience in relation to their ...This paper investigates the impacts of intercultural experience through English as a lingua franca （ELF） on language attitudes, with the focus on Chinese speakers＇ narratives of ELF experience in relation to their views of Englishes. The data retrieved through 769 questionnaires and 35 interviews with Chinese users of English revealed the impacts in four aspects. First, the lack of ELF experience helps to maintain the assumption that conformity to native English is necessary for interactants to understand each other. Second, ELF experience triggers the question about the exclusive connection between nativeness and intelligibility. Third, it raises challenges to the exclusive relevance of native English for successful intercultural communication. Fourth, it helps to develop an awareness of intercultural communication strategies as important for communicative effectiveness in the context of the diversity of English. Attitudes revealed in the four aspects all point to a concern with the issue what is intelligible English. This paper thus discusses intelligibility in relation to （non-） nativeness and the role of intercultural experience in making sense of the issue of intelligibility, which leads to the exploration of pedagogical implications of this study.展开更多
This paper reports on a case study which explored Chinese L2 learners＇ conversational involvement in NS-NNS interaction in a study-abroad context. In particular, the study investigated the possible link between topic...This paper reports on a case study which explored Chinese L2 learners＇ conversational involvement in NS-NNS interaction in a study-abroad context. In particular, the study investigated the possible link between topic initiation and conversational involvement examined under the commonly identified topic genres in casual conversations, including ＂observation＂, ＂opinion seeking/providing＂, ＂story-telling＂, ＂chat＂ topics and ＂gossip＂. The findings show differences in the choices of topic initiation between the NS English group and the NNS Chinese group. Further analysis found that the participants＇ topic initiations did not necessarily lead to their active conversational involvement and suggests that the mere fact of getting involved in a topic does not always produce a sense of shared common ground between/among the conversationalists. The positive link between topic initiation and conversational involvement （such as in ＂observation＂）, and its impact upon L2 learners are also discussed in this study, confirming the social constructionist view that social roles and interpersonal relations are created and recreated at a micro-level in everyday discourse.展开更多
基金The National Key Technology R&D Program of Chinaduring the 11th Five-Year Plan Period(No2007BAF23B0302)the Major Research Plan of the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No90818028)
文摘In order to achieve adaptive and efficient service composition, a task-oriented algorithm for discovering services is proposed. The traditional process of service composition is divided into semantic discovery and functional matching and makes tasks be operation objects. Semantic similarity is used to discover services matching a specific task and then generate a corresponding task-oriented web service composition （TWC） graph. Moreover, an algorithm for the new service is designed to update the TWC. The approach is applied to the composition model, in which the TWC is searched to obtain an optimal path and the final service composition is output. Also, the model can implement realtime updating with changing environments. Experimental results demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the algorithm and indicate that the maximum searching radius can be set to 2 to achieve an equilibrium point of quality and quantity.
文摘This study investigates how orthographic,semantic and contextual variables—including word length,concreteness,and contextual support—impact on the processing and learning of new words in a second language(L2)when first encountered during reading.Students learning English as a foreign language(EFL)were recruited to read sentences for comprehension,embedded with unfamiliar L2 words that occurred once.Immediately after this,they received a form recognition test,a meaning recall test,and a meaning recognition test.Eye-movement data showed significant effects of word length on both early and late processing of novel words,along with effects of concreteness only on late-processing eye-tracking measures.Informative contexts were read slower than neutral contexts,yet contextual support did not show any direct influence on the processing of novel words.Interestingly,initial learning of abstract words was better than concrete words in terms of form and meaning recognition.Attentional processing of novel L2 words,operationalized by total reading time,positively predicted L2 learners’recognition of new orthographic forms.Taken together,these results suggest:1)orthographic,semantic and contextual factors play distinct roles for initial processing and learning of novel words;2)online processing of novel words contributes to L2 learners’initial knowledge of unfamiliar lexical items acquired from reading.
文摘This exploratory study examines whether genre has an impact on syntactic complexity and holistic rating in EFL writing. Over 300 sample texts produced by intermediate learners were collected from a test and some regular after-class assignments for English writing courses. Each participant completed two writing tasks, one argumentative and the other narrative. Results show that genre type has a significant impact on L2 syntactic complexity. Genre effect is found stronger with timed writing tasks. L2 holistic ratings show correlation with syntactic complexity on the different measure(s) depending on genre type and planning conditions. Regression analyses reveal that for timed writing tasks, clausal density(clauses per sentence) is a reliable predictor for holistic assessment on intermediate EFL learners’ writing quality. It is found to account for 6% of the score variance for timed writing and 10% for timed argumentative writing. Genre is evidenced to be related to EFL writing holistic ratings. Closer examination indicates that while syntactic complexity is predictive of holistic writing scores for argumentative writing, it does not correlate with holistic scores for narrative writing. Other linguistic features rather than syntactic complexity may be accountable. Overall, the study lends support to genre effect in the relationship between syntactic complexity and L2 writing quality holistic rating.
文摘The creative use of English idioms has led to heterogeneous idiom variants that are particularly problematic for L2 learners. Drawing on a cognitive linguistic perspective of idiom learning, this paper categorizes English idiom variants into four major types, and reports on an empirical study that investigated the effects of variation type and proficiency level on Chinese EFL learners＇ comprehension of English idiom variants. Targeting non-English major college students of basic and intermediate English levels, the study confirmed the influence of proficiency level on learners＇ comprehension and evaluation of the difficulty of idiom variants. Structural change in idioms was found to be the easiest type and idioms modified in terms of literal imagery were the most difficult in comprehension. These findings suggest that the dominant ＂rote memorization＂ tends to limit learners＇ choices of comprehension strategies to literal translation and L1 transfer. The learning environment unsupportive of cultivating L2 learners＇ analytical ability is held accountable for the generally low success rates in comprehension of idiom variants.
文摘This paper investigates the impacts of intercultural experience through English as a lingua franca （ELF） on language attitudes, with the focus on Chinese speakers＇ narratives of ELF experience in relation to their views of Englishes. The data retrieved through 769 questionnaires and 35 interviews with Chinese users of English revealed the impacts in four aspects. First, the lack of ELF experience helps to maintain the assumption that conformity to native English is necessary for interactants to understand each other. Second, ELF experience triggers the question about the exclusive connection between nativeness and intelligibility. Third, it raises challenges to the exclusive relevance of native English for successful intercultural communication. Fourth, it helps to develop an awareness of intercultural communication strategies as important for communicative effectiveness in the context of the diversity of English. Attitudes revealed in the four aspects all point to a concern with the issue what is intelligible English. This paper thus discusses intelligibility in relation to （non-） nativeness and the role of intercultural experience in making sense of the issue of intelligibility, which leads to the exploration of pedagogical implications of this study.
文摘This paper reports on a case study which explored Chinese L2 learners＇ conversational involvement in NS-NNS interaction in a study-abroad context. In particular, the study investigated the possible link between topic initiation and conversational involvement examined under the commonly identified topic genres in casual conversations, including ＂observation＂, ＂opinion seeking/providing＂, ＂story-telling＂, ＂chat＂ topics and ＂gossip＂. The findings show differences in the choices of topic initiation between the NS English group and the NNS Chinese group. Further analysis found that the participants＇ topic initiations did not necessarily lead to their active conversational involvement and suggests that the mere fact of getting involved in a topic does not always produce a sense of shared common ground between/among the conversationalists. The positive link between topic initiation and conversational involvement （such as in ＂observation＂）, and its impact upon L2 learners are also discussed in this study, confirming the social constructionist view that social roles and interpersonal relations are created and recreated at a micro-level in everyday discourse.
